As the number of television channels available through various program delivery methods (cable TV, home video, broadcast, etc.) continues to proliferate, the demand for programming, particularly high-quality HDTV-format programming, presents special challenges, both technical and financial, to program producers. While the price of professional editing and image manipulation equipment continues to increase, due to the high cost of research and development and other factors, general-purpose hardware, including personal computers, can produce remarkable effects at a cost well within the reach of non-professionals, even novices. As a result, the distinction between these two classifications of equipment has become less well defined. Although general-purpose PC-based equipment may never allow professional-style rendering of images at full resolution in real-time, each new generation of microprocessors enables progressively faster, higher-resolution applications. In addition, as the price of memory circuits and other data storage hardware continues to fall, the capacity of such devices has risen dramatically, thereby improving the prospects for enhancing PC-based image manipulation systems for such applications.
In terms of dedicated equipment, attention has traditionally focused on the development of two kinds of professional image-manipulation systems: those intended for the highest quality levels to support film effects, and those intended for television broadcast to provide "full 35 mm theatrical film quality," within the realities and economics of present broadcasting systems. Conventional thinking holds that 35 mm theatrical film quality as projected in theaters is equivalent to 1200 or more lines of resolution, whereas camera negatives present 2500 or more lines. As a result, image formats under consideration have been directed towards video systems having 2500 or more scan lines for high-level production, with hierarchies of production, HDTV broadcast, and NTSC and PAL compatible standards which are derived by down-converting these formats. Most proposals employ progressive scanning, although interlace is considered an acceptable alternative as part of an evolutionary process. Another important issue is adaptability to computer-graphics-compatible formats.
Current technology directions in computers and image processing should allow production equipment based upon fewer than 1200 scan lines, with picture expansions to create a hierarchy of upward-converted formats for theatrical projection, film effects, and film recording. In addition, general-purpose hardware enhancements should be capable of addressing the economic aspects of production, a subject not considered in detail by any of the available references.